Page 13 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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While McGregor is drawn to fights that offer the biggest payouts and most notoriety, he doesn't believe a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz is in his immediate future. In fact, "Notorious" is warning the Stockton native to stay away, having this to say in a recent interview with The LAD Bible:
"I think potentially so. The more I think about it Nate is going to be... There was a lot of damage done to Nathan in that last fight. You know looking at his face it just didn't look the same. I know those close to him will understand what I am talking about. So there could be a potential fight maybe down the line for the lightweight belt after I win this one. To see him have to make the weight. And then to see the damage that he took in the last fight and then come in at a much lower weight.. It wouldn't end good for him. So I'd imagine and I would probably hope that his people close to him would stop him from doing it. It's done now. Cash your money and bounce."

Today would've been UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn in The Philippines, but BJ Penn suffered an injury and withdrew from the card, and the event was scrapped just days later. One of the key matchups on the card was a flyweight matchup between Ali Bagautinov and Kyoji Horiguchi, and it's not taken long for it to be rescheduled for another card. SportsJoe.ie reports that Horiguchi/Bagautinov is now set for UFC Fight Night 99 on Saturday, November 19th.

Another fight has been made official for next month’s UFC return to Brazil, and the card likely is complete with a dozen fights.
Brazil’s Francimar Barroso (18-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is official for a light heavyweight bout against the debuting Darren Stewart (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the promotion recently confirmed. That gives the UFC Fight Night 100 lineup 12 fights with a main card expected to feature five bouts following seven on the prelims.
UFC Fight Night 100 takes place Nov. 19 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. It airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

News is out, per a Flo Combat report, that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Gegard Mousasi was threatened with a knife by featherweight champion Conor McGregor. According to Mousasi, he and McGregor went back-and-forth in private messages after Mousasi's post-fight press conference rant at UFC 204, including a bashing of McGregor, which quickly escalated to a serious level.

Jose Aldo will meet with the UFC brass next Wednesday in Las Vegas to discuss his future in the sport, and even though he’s convinced to stop fighting, he told the media how things will work from now on if somehow the promotion changes his mind about not fighting again.

During this time and the rampant speculation that Rousey may never return though, UFC President Dana White was always adamant that she would fight again. As we now know, White was correct and recently he went on the Fox Sports Live with Jay and Dan to discuss Rousey's return.
It wasn't just the injuries and the vacation that kept Rousey away though. Rousey's comments about suicide paint a much darker picture which played a role in Rousey's continued absence from the octagon. For his part, White believes the media coverage of Rousey played a big role in Rousey's depression.

Jon Jones is scheduled to make a different kind of history later this month.
Jones' arbitration hearing against the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is set for Oct. 31 in Los Angeles, MMA Fighting has learned. Barring a last-minute settlement, Jones will be the first UFC fighter to officially appeal a USADA sanction via arbitration.

While fans and media continue to debate the scoring of the main event at this past weekend’s UFC 204 event, astute observers may have noticed a different judge-related controversy on the night.
As the first bout of the night got underway, one judge’s chair sat empty. MMA Fighting photographer Esther Lin, who was positioned next to the unused seat, took to her Twitter feed to make note of the odd sight.
As the lightweight matchup between Leonardo Santos (16-3-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC) and Adriano Martins (28-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) kicked off at midnight local time at England’s Manchester Arena, judges Maciej Motylewski and Paul Sutherland were in position, but veteran official Jeff Mullen was not, only making it to his assigned post in the opening moments of the second frame.
Martins’ manager, Alex Davis, said he would like for the fight to be ruled a no contest and plans on contacting UFC officials with a formal request.

The UFC sent a letter this week to all contracted fighters regarding new arbitration rules regarding disputes of the company's anti-doping policy, as administered by USADA (United State Anti-Doping Agency)
Arbitration is the exclusive means of appeal for challenging any USADA ruling regarding the drug testing policy as well as violations.

A Canadian fighter is heading back to his former weight class, and will do it in front of his home fans.
A welterweight bout between Chad Laprise (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Li Jingliang (11-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is the latest addition to December’s UFC 206 lineup. UFC officials announced the new booking today.
UFC 206 takes place Dec. 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.

Another confrontation appears to be brewing between UFC officials and one of their most popular fighters, Conor McGregor. Things could come to a head if “The Notorious” leaves the UFC 205 main event with two belts in his possession.

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier beat Anthony Johnson the fist time they met. But with a rematch of the UFC 187 clash on the horizon, oddsmakers simply couldn’t pick a favorite.
The opening lines for the UFC 206 headliner, courtesy of MMAOddsBreaker.com, have the two light heavyweights dead even, with both fighters checking in at (-115).

(UPDATED on 10/13/16 at 2:15 p.m. ET. Following the publishing of this story, Mike Dolce clarified that Ronda Rousey’s walking-around weight is 148 to 152 pounds.)
As a self-described “department head” for Ronda Rousey’s team, Mike Dolce said the former women’s bantamweight champ started getting serious about a comeback in late summer.

The next Invicta card is getting a pair of title fights.
Tonya Evinger will defend her Invicta women's bantamweight belt against Yana Kunitskaya and Angela Hill puts her strawweight gold on the line against Kaline Medeiros at Invicta FC 20 on Nov. 18 in Kansas City, promotion officials told MMA Fighting on Thursday.

Dana White announced a bunch of news Wednesday night at the Fox Sports studios. When pressed about revealing more plans about their other champions such as Dominick Cruz, the UFC president hinted that something big is in store for him.
“I don’t think if I have ever met anybody in my life that has worse luck than this kid. In his entire career, it was just one thing after another, injury,” White said about Cruz at UFC Tonight. “He (was supposed to be) getting a big fight, coming off Ultimate Fighter. He was supposed to be the co-main event on Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen 2, which he gets a piece of the PPV.”
“And (now) some really really good news is coming Dominick Cruz’s way,” he said. “So knock on wood and hope this kid stays healthy because some really good news is coming his way.”
UFC 207 with Ronda Rousey’s return is the last big card they have planned for the year. And with White mentioning a similar deal as co-headlining Silva vs Chael 2, DC asked if Cruz will be part of that.
White smiled and joked about not wanting to reveal too much, eventually saying “It’s possible. It’s possible.”

One of the most well-known executives in the UFC is departing the promotion.
UFC senior vice president of public relations and athlete marketing and development Dave Sholler is leaving for a job with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, he confirmed Wednesday night. UFC president Dana White broke the news on FS1's TUF Talk show.
Sholler, a New Jersey native, is a lifelong fan of the 76ers. His last event will be UFC 205 on Nov. 12 in New York.
"As Dana just announced on FS1, I'm heading home. I've accepted a job w/ my hometown team, the Sixers. This has been the ride of a lifetime."
"It's time to go home, to the organization I grew up rooting for. Will miss fight game very, very much, but excited for the new challenge."

With Chael Sonnen's return to MMA, Bellator MMA is looking to to put together a long awaited fight next summer.
Maybe the fourth time is the charm.
"We've have a contract with Wanderlei Silva even before Rizin ever got him on board. With the contract we have with him, he won't be able to fight for us until he is cleared with NSAC. I think in May he will be cleared to compete for Bellator.
"Since Bellator contracted Chael Sonnen, believe me, we've been getting texts and calls from Wanderlei saying that he wants that fight. So, I think you'll see that fight some time in 2017 for Bellator...It's very difficult to pinpoint exactly when we can put it on, it's kind of a moving target in a way, but I think some time in the summer for sure."
"Wanderlei is still pissed about what happened between them and he wants that fight. It's something personal for him. Honestly, I don't really know what happened to make him that compelled to fight Chael, but I can tell you that he is not happy with what happened between them.
"With Chael, he's down to fight anybody on any given day. It's going to be something that we'll try and map out when we sit down with both guys at the beginning of next year."
"That's going to be a fight where everybody stops whatever they're doing to turn on the TV to see the fight. As we all know, that fight has been building for a number of years and they couldn't work it out, but now I feel the timing is perfect."